By Greg Hilton
Wow, I’m amazed how far technology has come in recent years. As I type this, I am cruising on a SouthWest Airlines flight headed west. I have spent the morning glued to email and have responded faster to email in the air than if I was sitting with both planted on the ground surround by the craziness that is an office environment.
With so many miles traveled annually, like most business travelers, I signed up for every frequent flyer program I could find. I’m currently signed up to receive hotel, car and, of course airlines rewards. I do not dare miss an opportunity to receive my points either. Even if I am standing at the front desk, I’ll have the person behind the reservations/check-in desk enter it for me. And yes, they always ask why a “Hilton” would stay at a Marriott. All these years later and I still do not have a quick comeback for that.
While each frequent flyer program has its pro and cons, with each, I am constantly confused by how many things I have to track just to keep on top of the points process. I tried several sights over the years that seek to consolidate your mileage programs, but realized, at the end of the day, the points programs do (I guess) what is intended; they create loyalty between the customer and the company. Loyalty, in the form of….. “it is just too much of a hassle to track so many points, so I will try to stay with one airline, hotel, car rental, etc.” Brilliant!
The foodservice industry has a bit of a points system. No, there are no frequent purchaser points in foodservice. I am talking about the vast number of places that a typical sales person, broker, region manager, etc. for a manufacturer has to enter a contract. That’s what Answers Systems is all about. Our trade promotion management software equips the foodservice industry with one location that keeps track of where to enter your point when there are so many places to enter them.
To further demonstrate Answers Systems commitment to providing the foodservice industry with one location for their trade promotion management needs is the future use of portals. We talk about this upcoming change a lot, but it is true. . .The portals are coming. Within the span of the next three years or so, manufacturers are going to be asked to enter their contracts in lots of different portals. The introduction of contract portals has a tremendous amount of positive merit for all of the trading partners. What is needed (and what is at the heart of the Answers Systems’ ContractPro® offering) is our commitment to partner with the portal offerings so our customers (using ContractPro®) can come to one place, enter the deal one time, and have that contract flow to the portal automatically. Now that truly is Brilliant.
Want to embrace the issue, consider the solution and really improve your organization’s trade promotion management? Contact us. Answers Systems' ContractPro® and ValuTrak® solutions are software and outsourced services designed for the unique and specific needs of the foodservice industry.
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